“Yes, I remember now!” Gran’ma said. “Janey came in and asked me for an old sheet for a sail, and for two spools. The spools, she said, would be the ‘Start’ and ‘Stop’ twisters for the flying machine!”
“It’s funny they didn’t come back when we called to them!” Gran’pa mused. “They always have minded so well!”
“I don’t believe they knew how to work the Flying Machine so that they could return to the earth!” Gran’ma replied. “Perhaps they did not think it would really fly and so neglected to put something on to send the machine down. I am sure that must have been the reason!”
“It must have been!” Gran’pa mused. “But see here, why can’t we go after them and bring them back, Gran’ma! If the children could build a Flying Machine, I see no reason why I couldn’t build one! In fact,” Gran’pa continued, “I could build a better one, I’m sure!”
“But how do we know where they have gone to?” Gran’ma asked.
“We can easily find out!” Gran’pa said, as he walked to the door. “I will build my machine with many spools on it, and one spool we will mark ‘Direction taken by the children’ and the machine will follow them everywhere they have gone until we find them! The other spools can be labeled ‘Stop,’ ‘Go,’ ‘Rise,’ ‘Lower,’ and anything else we can think of. We must be careful and have everything complete before we start!”
“It is six o’clock now,” Gran’pa added. “I should have it finished by eight or nine o’clock and we can start the first thing in the morning!”
So Gran’pa took all his tools out in the back yard and began to work.
Johnny had picked out the largest box around the place and all that Gran’pa could find were four little soap boxes; these he nailed together.
A neighbor boy came over to watch Gran’pa, and when he heard what Gran’pa was building he said, “Gran’pa, why don’t you borrow my boat? I should be glad to let you have it, and you could put a sail on it and fix it up fine!”